With more brands and influencers utilizing the world’s second most engaged social media platform (only after Facebook) for business, it’s more important than ever to standout by creating quality content that sells your profile to viewers.

Never worry about an Instagram algorithm again by discovering just how easy it is to create the perfect Instagram post every single time!

3. Write A Clever Caption

Whether humorous or inspiring, your caption is a major part of what gets the conversation going.

And since Instagram captions are truncated, it’s essential to cut to the chase within your first 100-150 characters.

Draw your audience in by writing a captivating intro, kind of like a movie preview! Think about every time you hit the more button on other posts and incorporate those elements of curiosity and authenticity to each of your captions.

4. Include A Call-To-Action

A simple question at the start or end of your captions is enough to get people talking!

Make your followers feel involved by asking for their opinions or even how their day is going.

Consider taking polls from time to time and as your followers to choose from options as simple as yes or no to answers A through D!

Ready to share a new blog post or an outfit on LikeToKnow.It? Ask your followers to visit your bio for more details and cross-promote your business and other social channels in your captions!

5. Add Hashtags To Your Comments

While everyone using loves hashtags, there’s something about them that’s just visually unappealing.

These days, Instagram is all aesthetic and very rarely, do influencers and other popular accounts add hashtags into their captions.

Use your comments section and paste up to 30 hashtags as a comment immediately after posting or, try splitting them up and paste two comments with 15 hashtags each – a strategy that I’m seeing implemented more and more these days.

The first 15 minutes after your post goes live are crucial for ranking in the Top posts sections of Instagram’s search tab, so adding extra “engagement” can sometimes give you a boost here.

You’ll also notice that some influencers paste emojis into their comments sections as:

🙂

🙂 🙂

🙂 🙂 🙂

since word on the street is that receiving comments with emojis can help boost your posts as well!

Implement a strong hashtag strategy and make it a routine every time you post to Instagram. If you’d like to, try experimenting with emojis too and see if this works for you.

6. Tag And Mention Brands and/or Feature Accounts

Whether it’s who you’re wearing, what you’re eating, or an account that features images made by creator’s like you, always tag as many other relevant accounts as you can in your posts and/or captions.

Think exposure, exposure, exposure!

Your image will show up in up to 10 different accounts most recently tagged images so, maximize your presence by including all relevant brands – the brand of jeans you’re wearing, where your coffee table is from, etc.!

7. Engage With Comments

Let your followers know you listen by taking the time to respond to comments!

And while it’s easier said than done when you already lead a busy life, taking the time to interact with each comment left on your images will help in building a loyal following.

If you can’t respond to them all, just tap that heart to let your fans know you read their replies! Because we all crave a little acknowledgement, right? 😉

And there you have it! The Ultimate Instagram Post Checklist of 7 essentials to optimize your posts’ performance.

When you post to Instagram, remember to:

Post a strong image that incorporates your feed’s theme

Tag a location

Write a well-thought out caption

Include a call-to-action

Add up to 30 hashtags in your comments

Tag brands and feature accounts in your post or caption

Engage with those who take the time to leave comments on your post

Who are your favourite brands and feature accounts to tag? What kind of captions do you love writing most?

Share your favourite Instagram post ideas in the comments below!

Enjoyed this article? You might find these other posts on blogging and social media interesting as well:

Knowing how and where to use the right keywords on Pinterest can have a dramatic impact on your profile’s performance.

Did you know that you can implement keywords in eight different locations? You’ll learn exactly what they are right here. We’ll also go over how to research and determine which one’s will best fit your Pinterest profile’s needs before we go over these hotspots.

How To Search Pinterest Keywords

It’s actually very simple to get started in using this incredibly powerful tactic.

For example, let’s say that you run a baking blog.

Let’s use the Pinterest search bar to type in the word baking.

You’ll see that baking as well as four additional suggested terms appear in the tab below:

Baking

Baking Recipes

Baking Videos

Baking With Kids

Baking Desserts

The keywords above are the ones I like to use in naming what I call major items: essentially, anything with a title.

We can screenshot these terms or write them down in a notepad for future reference.

And now that we’ve saved the above, let’s hit enter to actually run a search for baking.

Plenty of beautiful images and pastries, right?

See those multi-coloured squares at the top of your screen just below the search tab? Say hello to your keywords!

Here alone, we can see the first 21 baking related keywords, far more than enough to start explaining each minor item: I use this term to refer to anything with a description.

Starting with just ten keywords is enough to get going but I like to take note of as many as are shown in the first visible section of the search results – this is a great thing to have for future reference as chances are, many of your boards are related.

Since we’ll be using these terms to describe things, its nice to have a large word bank to choose from. It keeps things sounding natural and assures that all of your descriptions don’t read too similarly!

Consider mixing up your keyword order as well – just because these terms are displayed left to right as they are doesn’t mean that they will have anymore of an impact if you write them the same way.

We’ll talk about where initial characters count next when we dive into those eight essential keyword locations.

But before we do, here’s a quick recap of the terms I used in this section:

Major Items: Titles

Minor Items: Descriptives

You can, of course, feel free to use suggested queries and related terms anyway you like and my suggestions are meant merely as a guideline.

Where To Use Keywords

You can literally use keywords anywhere you see fit on Pinterest and on your blog.

The following is a list of locations where you can use keywords in the Pinterest platform itself. However, note that there are two tricks here that must be applied prior to pinning and promoting your newest blog post.

1. Display Name

Users can fit up to 100 characters in their Pinterest Business Account Display Names and taking advantage of as many as possible is an excellent strategy.

However, consider the fact that on mobile devices, only the first 30 characters of your display name will appear in other Business Account users’ Followers and Following lists.

So, for example, my Display Name, Nikki | Make Money Blogging & Posting On Instagram | Work At Home | Blog & Social Media Monetization appears as written above on desktop and on mobile, it shows as:

Nikki | Make Money Blogging & …

Looks enticing, right?

Have a look at other popular Pinterest Accounts and notice what many of them have in common. This formula that I also use and often comes across is:

First Name | What I Do | Further Break Down + Additional Keywords

So, in summary:

Research keywords in your niche

Choose the most intriguing ones

Make those first 30 characters count to display an optimal username according to how it will appear in list results

2. About Your Profile

There is a 160 character limit for this section of your Pinterest Business Account Profile.

Ideally, use any keywords that you have not yet used in your display name here; tell users how you can help them here.

3. Board Names

Your Board Names have a 100 character limit but it is best not to use them all here.

In my experience, Board Names directly named after popular and related queries fair best.

Name your boards according to what users are searching for and what they will find in this board.

Save the extensive description for Board Descriptions.

4. Board Descriptions

Pinterest Users can enter up to 500 characters for Board Descriptions and its an excellent idea to utilize as many as you’d like to here.

Remember how we researched keywords?

Consider naming your board after your initial search term (or related queries) and then try using the first ten related keywords displayed below the search tab in your description.

Be sure to make it sound natural and remember that you don’t have to use terms in the exact order they appear in. Choose the ones that are most relevant and those that are easiest for you to work with.

Any order will give you an impact!

5. Image File Name

There is no official character limit here but keeping it under 100 is a good prractice.

I try and name my files according to where and how I use them, for example:

nikki-blogs-blogging-pinterest…

I like using the following formula for SEO in addition to keeping my files organized:

which blog or social media profile the image appears on-category-post-relevant keywords

Be sure to use dashes in your file names NOT underscores!

Google does not read underscores as word separators and instead:

nikki_blogs_blogging_pinterest…

is read as:

nikkiblogsbloggingpinterest…

Since the hot mess above is not a word, you also won’t rank for any keywords using it.

Updating your image file names might seem like a huge workload but I can assure you, its worth doing!

I have thousands of images on my desktop and it took me about a day to update all of them. Not my ideal work day, but getting the smallest details right can have a mega positive impact on your business.

6. Pin Title

You have up to 100 characters in your Pin Titles.

I like to name my pins according to the text I’ve used in the actual pin itself. But I do also use the remaining characters I’m allotted to add keywords and my blog name.

When searching for an item that I’ve pinned (or came across during a search), I usually remember what the pin looked like and possibly some of the text the creator included. Very rarely, if at all, do I remember what the author named the pin.

Make it easy for users to find your pins again by making the written title the same as the one you used on the actual pin itself.

The formula I use is:

Visual Pin Title : Relevant Keywords | My Blog Name

When you include your blog name in the pin’s title, those searching for your blog will also be able to find you again when they search your pins.

7. Pin Description

Just like your Board Descriptions, Pin Descriptions also have a character limit of 500.

Use any keywords related to your Pin Title here.

Remember how we used 10 related terms in board descriptions? Shoot for the same number of keywords in your Pin Descriptions in order to write a convincing description for your latest visual.

8. Destination Link

This is one of those bonuses most bloggers wish they would have done from the start (guilty)!

Keeping your path under five terms is an ideal practice and gives you ample opportunity to be descriptive.

And while it won’t necessarily help you rank on Pinterest, it can have an impact on your Google Ranking as well as that specific page’s memorability.

For example, I’m going to name this using the words Pinterest and Keywords.

So, my destination link will read:

nikkiblogs.com/pinterest-keywords

which is a bit easier on the eyes and to remember than:

nikkiblogs.com/how-to-use-keywords-on-pinterest

The strategy you use to name and organize your posts is completely up to you.

For example, consider the following three formats:

yourblog.com/the-exact-title-of-your-post

yourblog.com/keywords-only

yourblog.com/category/subcategory/keyword(s)

In the last example, the category could be blog and the subcategory, in the case of this post, could be pinterest.

And so, my link would instead read as:

nikkiblogs.com/blog/pinterest/keywords

Decide how or if you’d like your blog to be organized this way and make any adjustments from there.

How will you use keywords on Pinterest? What method do you use to organize your image files and name destination links? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

If you enjoyed this post, you might also find these articles on Pinterest and Blogging helpful:

Instagram Insights

Instagram Ads

Purchase ad space according to location, demographics, interests, or behaviours to expand your business or brand’s reach.

Contact Button

A button in the middle of your profile page that makes it as easy as one click for potential clients and customers to get in touch with you.

Swipe Up Feature On Instagram Stories

Include links to your business website or portfolio in each of your Instagram story slides.

Signing Up For A New Instagram Account

Download the Instagram App

Create An Instagram Account

Choose A Username & Password

Find Accounts To Follow

Upload A Profile Photo

Switching To An Instagram Business Account

Create A Facebook Business Page If You Haven’t Already

Click Edit Profile

Click Try Instagram Business Tools

Connect Your Facebook Business Page By Clicking Next

If You Skip Connecting Your Facebook Page, You’ll Be Asked To Choose A Category

Review Your Contact Info

Click Done

That’s it! You’re ready to go!

Now, let’s talk about the ideal Business Profile.

Completing Your Instagram Business Profile

The first thing we’ll want to do is fill out your bio and submit the contact information you’d like to display publicly (you can choose whether or not you’ll like to list an email, phone number, and/or your business address, if you have a storefront or work out of an office, for instance).

Since your Instagram bio is limited to 150 characters, try to keep your description to the point while also making it memorable.

Feel free to get cute if you’re a blogger but make sure you also mention what it is you write about.

If you have a shop or other service-based business, be sure to mention what it is you offer. You want your clientele to be able to learn all they need to know here and be intrigued enough to visit your website.

If you don’t have a business website or blog yet, clickhereto follow my easy six-step tutorial and get setup with one in less than 20 minutes.

Now, let’s start uploading some content!

Posting Your First Piece of Content

To post your first photo or video to your new Instagram account, click the Plus Sign Button at the bottom middle of your mobile device’s screen.

From here, Instagram will ask for access to your phone or tablet’s gallery.

Choose a great photo or video to start your new Business Account with a bang and don’t forget to introduce yourself and your brand from the get go.

Bonus: Start using Hashtags like a Pro by following my guide on this subject. Hashtags are a huge part of any successful Instagram strategy and you are permitted to use up to 30 of them per post.

How To Be Visible On Instagram

Like Pinterest and Twitter, you can make yourself more discoverable in a number of ways. Try the following:

Using Hashtags

Tagging A Location

Tagging Other Brands & Feature Accounts

Cross-Promoting On Other Social Media Platforms – you have the option to share every Instagram Post on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr at the time you share it here

Which social media platforms do you use for your business? What type of business do you manage? Would love to hear from you in the comments below!

First time visiting Thanks so much for stopping by! You might enjoy these posts about Instagram as well:

Did you know that you can get way more views on Instagram by applying only a few basic tricks?

With the right marketing strategy, you can start growing your personal brand or business on the world’s number three social media platform right now.

Use a combination of Instagram hacks that take only seconds of your time and effort plus the exact methods used by pros to grow their followings and increase engagement rates.

Apply all 10 of these bulletproof strategies to take your reach to the max!

Ready to learn how to get more views on Instagram? Let’s beat the algorithm together and get your profile and story views growing!

Disclaimer: This post contains some affiliate links and as a member of the Amazon Associates Program, I earn through qualifying purchases. Should you choose to purchase something through these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

1. Take Amazing Photos

It goes without saying that Instagram is a visual platform!

But a unique and high-quality photo or video will take you a long way.

And the harsh reality is that, if your Instagram profile doesn’t stand out from the rest, why would people come to you over anyone else?

Creating a cohesive feed (think colours: I personally like to stick to white, grey, black, and pink in mine) that’s been curated from similar excellent-quality content is a sure fire way to start gaining more followers and engagement from the moment you implement this strategy.

Four ways you can start shooting better content now are:

(1) Take your photos around the same time every day using lots of natural light

Use foam boards like these ones that you can get for next to nothing on Amazon and ensure maximum brightness to your styled photos of flatlays. I’m often snapping shots with my camera in one hand while holding a foam board in the other when it comes to producing sponsored content like the shot below that I did as part of a paid campaign with Gillette.

If shooting in natural light isn’t always an option for you though, invest in an inexpensive set of studio lights like these ones that I have made by Neewer.

Since purchasing these, I now shoot content around the clock! Including when my little girl goes to sleep for the night. Whether it’s 12pm or 12am, I can always take excellent photos for my Instagram now.

3. Interact with Recent Posts

This is something that really helped me grow on Instagram during my earliest days. It’s part of the method I used to grow my account to 1,000 followers in 28 days!

Search hashtags that are relevant to you and your brand and engage with the latest content that appears in your results.

Engaging with other lesser known accounts gets them curious about who you are and will have the same impact on their followers. Have you ever browsed through the comments section of an Instagram post? I know I have!

If you’ve searched the right hashtags, engaging with the latest posts could also mean that your vision for your brand aligns with these fellow Instagram users.

For more on how to formulate an amazing Instagram hashtag strategy, check out this post to start hashtagging like a pro!

You’ll also find the best 200 niche specific and effective hashtags to help you start increasing your number of followers, comments, and likes to your Instagram profile.

Pro Tip: Remember, different hashtags work for different types of engagement and different audiences! Utilizing a mixture of them all is the best hashtag strategy to grow your audience and reach organically.

4. Post to Instagram Stories Frequently

Instagram Stories were something I neglected when they were first released!

But in all honesty, they’re something I can’t live without now.

Knowing what to post on Instagram Stories and when to post it is the perfect way to get more views to your Instagram Profile!

Instagram Stories are a perfect place to post content that doesn’t quite fit into or isn’t high quality enough for your Feed!

Also consider styling your stories; use Canva or PhotoShop and create templates based around your business or brand. These make your stories look that much more professional and will keep your audience coming back for more.

5. Always Tag a Location

Increasing your potential reach and exposure is a must is you want to get more views on Instagram.

And always tagging a location is a super easy way to do so!

The strategy I like to use for location tags is to always tag the major city closest to the location I shot my content in. Unless, the exact spot you created your content in is a well-known destination, you are only limiting yourself otherwise.

If you shot the photo at home, again, tag the biggest metropolis closest to you!

This is such a simple add on but it really is that effective!

6. Tag and Mention Brands in Every Post

Have a favourite spot where you buy your entire wardrobe or housewares? Tag them in every single post! You only have exposure to gain and there is absolutely no downside.

Know of an account that features Instagram users just like you? Tag them!

You’ll show up on their feed within their tagged category. A super easy but effective way to get more exposure to your account right now!

Working with a brand on an upcoming collaboration? Other influencers just like you might be too and they’ll browse through the brands tagged section on their profile for inspiration.

I know I’ve done this and often times, have been curious about who put out the amazing content I just saw!

Consider your own Instagram browsing habits. Chances are other Instagram users have similar ones.

7. Use the Right Hashtags

As mentioned before, I’ve written an entire post just on this topic alone!

Because there is a right way and a less effective way to use Instagram Hashtags.

Building a strong Instagram Hashtag Strategy includes:

(1) Using a combination of highly competitive hashtags and lesser known hashtags

Think 1,000,000 other posts versus 50,000!

You stand more of a chance to be featured in the Most Popular section of a less competitive hashtag as a developing Instagram user but using competitive hashtags will get you more likes!

Think about the behaviour I described before: chances are, other users are utilizing the same methods to gain exposure to their accounts. Create your habits with this psychology in mind for optimum results!

(2) Posting hashtags in your comments

Talk to 5 different Instagram users on this and you’ll get 5 different opinions.

Personally, I’ve had a great experience with it and, as I’ve seen other Instagram users do, I now sometimes post two separate comments containing hashtags – keep it at 10 and 10, for instance or, group relevant tags together.

This brings me to my next point!

(3) Use relevant hashtags

Continuing where we left off above:

By archiving, for example, a set of 10 motherhood related hashtags, 10 lifestyle related hashtags, and 10 business related hashtags in the notes section of your phone, you can then post two of these “hashtag groups” together based on their relevancy to your latest post.

Use more or less, according to what you experience works for you.

Normally, I like to stick to around 23 or less. For whatever reason, its just worked.

Stay on topic and only use tags that relate to who you are as an Instagram user or what your latest image represents.

Pro Tip: Research hashtags to see how they fit with your brand!

For example, although I love the term hustle, the content that shows up when you search this tag is a bit mixed for my liking. You’ll find everything from cross-fit athletes to get rich e-book writers. Totally not reflective of my brand!

Get to know your hashtags and you’ll see exactly whether or not they’ll fit into your creative plan.

8. Cross-Promote All of Your Content

You know those little buttons you can tap to share your post to your Facebook page or Twitter account? Always choose to do so!

This really is as simple as the click of a button but the payout can be massive.

And bonus, if you have an Instagram Fan Page AND a Personal Facebook Page, share your Instagram Stories to both!

I cannot tell you what an explosion this led to in my Instagram Profile Views!

While I never considered my family, friends, and former work colleagues as a potential audience for my Instagram Mommy Blogger account, it turns out that a lot of people were actually curious about what I’m doing now.

And, as a result, I gained more followers and more people who view and interact with my content.

The moral of the story? Promote everywhere! Because sometimes, you never know just how diverse your audience really is.

9. Collaborate with Others & Get Featured

Interested in doing an account take over? Write a professional business proposal to your Favourite Brands or Feature Accounts and get something cooking! As my mom always says, there is a 50% chance they will say, YES!

You know how the most successful businesses, brands, and individuals get ahead? They take chances!

No one ever grew their vision by doing the exact same thing as someone else. There is only ONE you but over 7.5 billion others on this planet.

What makes you YOU-nique? Use these qualities when you write your proposal to wow potential business partners with your incredible authenticity. Because that’s what social media is all about!

Whenever I’ve collaborated with a brand or done a paid sponsored post, this is the first thing a partner will always note in their requirements is that you create content in your own unique style. Make it organic and cater to your personal brand because people can see the inauthentic from a mile away.

To boost exposure and start getting paid to post or to post in exchange for product, join influencer marketing networks for access to opportunities. If your content is strong enough, your new business partner may also feature you on their page this way and some of these brands have a massive following on Instagram.

10. Post at the Right Times

No matter what anyone says about you not being favoured by the algorithm, ignore it. If your content is as unique and incredible as you are, they will come.

Plus, switching to a Business Account gives you access to powerful Analytics!

You’ll see exactly what time your followers are active on Instagram and on what days of the week. Talk about an advantage!

Your followers are the ones who engage with your content and knowing exactly when a large percentage of them are online will give you more access to more eyes and potential customers for your latest post or product launch.

Grow your brand or business by making the right moves at the right times!

Are you ready to make moves and start getting more views to your Instagram Profile?

Implement these 10 ideas into your Instagram business marketing plan and share your experience in the comments below!

About Nikki

Made in Vancouver, BC with Croatian parts. I’m a mom, wife, and blogger that loves helping girl bosses achieve their work at home dreams. I teach others how to monetize their blog and social media profiles as well as sharing what I’ve learned in life and motherhood.